Watson, James Dewey

Born: 1928 AD
Currently alive, at 88 years of age.

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1928 – Born on April 6th in Chicago, Illinois. American geneticist and biophysicist who played a crucial role in the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the substance that is the basis of heredity.

1947 – Watson enrolled and graduated at the University of Chicago.

1952 – Determined the structure of the protein coat surrounding the tobacco mosaic virus but made no dramatic progress with DNA.

1953 – Watson and Crick published their epochal discovery in two papers in the British journal Nature in April–May.

1955 – Watson taught at Harvard University, where he served as professor of biology.

1962 – Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins.

1965 – Published his book, Molecular Biology of the Gene, one of the most extensively used modern biology texts.

1968 – He wrote The Double Helix, an informal and personal account of the DNA discovery and the roles of the people involved in it, which aroused some controversy.

– Watson assumed the leadership of the Laboratory of Quantitative Biology at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York, and made it a world centre for research in molecular biology.

1981 – His The DNA Story, which was written with John Tooze, was published.

1988-1992 – Watson helped direct the Human Genome Project, a project to map and decipher all the genes in the human chromosomes, but he eventually resigned because of alleged conflicts of interests involving his investments in private biotechnology companies.